BRINGING POLAR RESEARCH INTO THE CLASSROOM

 PolarTREC is a teacher-researcher partnership designed to increase the gathering and dissemination of knowledge about polar regions. This PolarTREC teacher joined a research team investigating the ecological consequences of climate change in Greenland in 2016. She will share first-hand experience of field methodology, climatic conditions, glacial melt, and ecosystem impacts. She has developed resources to be used in the middle school classroom including student hands-on activities exploring permafrost melt, glacial melt, biodiversity, and range changes of organisms; these are available. Teacher research experience gives teachers the opportunity to develop investigative skills as well as content knowledge, and bringing these into the classroom helps develop student engagement in science and global stewardship. PolarTREC is managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States and funded by the National Science Foundation.